ABIOGENESIS (2011) Short Film: Terraforming Machine Transforms Planet

Abiogenesis Short Film. Richard Mans‘ Abiogenesis (2011) short film  plot synopsis: “a strange mechanical device lands on a desolate world and uses the planet to undergo a startling transformation, that has profound implications for an entire galaxy.”

On the production and concept of the short film:

I started working on the robot that is the main character in this film, when I first started teaching myself 3D animation in 1998. I then developed it further as part of my first 3D animation job, making it into a showpiece for a technology company.

A few years later, while I was working on an animation contract for NASA, I was inspired by animations for their Mars Rover missions. I thought it would be fun and original to make my own robot into something like NASA’s Mars Rover probe, but let my imagination run wild as to what the robot would do once it lands on the planet.

In 2007 I started full time work on my film, supporting myself using funds I had saved from my freelance animation work. I knew the film could take me years to finish, so I switched to using Lightwave 3D® by NewTek as my main 3D animation software. Lightwave was the most affordable software for me at the time, that could do everything I needed to make the film. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be the most stable and user friendly 3D animation package I had ever used.

I re-modelled my robot to accommodate for some major new features it would need to accomplish its mission, then spent over a year on the animatic stage. This was the stage were I created the entire film using only very low resolution models and quick preview renders. I made the film many times over in this rough animatic form, trying to work out exactly how the action should unfold, and finding the best edit and camera points for this action.

The animatic gave me my shot list that I then spent about another two and a half years working up into the final shots. I used Pixologic’s Zbrush® to help model and texture some of the details along with some third party plugins for Lightwave. Adobe After Effects® was used extensively for colour correction and compositing effects in the final stages of production.

We previously published these Abiogenesis articles:

ABIOGENESIS (2011) Short Film Trailer: Richard Mans

Watch Abiogenesis short film and leave your thoughts on it below in the comments section. For more Abiogenesis photos, videos, and information, visit our Abiogenesis Page, subscribe to us by Email, follow us on Twitter or on Facebook. Abiogenesis has no release date yet.

Source: Geektryant